• “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up,” (Gal 6:9). Stay at it. Keep your head in the battle. It won’t be long, now, and “the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Rom. 16:20)
• This is my strategy as a minister: if I can contribute to your strong and deep connection to God in Christ, you will do what he asks you to do. That’s it. I probably don’t spend as much time telling you what the Bible teaches you should do (ethics). Most of my effort is to connect you to the one who calls you, and to give you a passion for him, knowing that “this is love for God, to obey his commands,” (1 Jn 5:3). If he is the most powerful love in your life — mission accomplished.
• So, I think of “watchfulness” as relative to this. Several years ago I recognized four things that characterize my periods of spiritual decline. Yours may be different; here are mine: 1. lack of significant prayer; 2. time given to diversions (some form of avoiding God); 3. lack of reflective devotional time in the word; 4. lack of interest in deeper patterns of thought, deeper writings, and difficult books. I’ve written these four in my Bible to, in effect, hold a mirror up to my life and provide accountability for those moments when I’m so spiritually dull I can’t see clearly.
• In his book Seeking the Face of God, Gary Thomas offers seven ways to pursue spiritual growth, recognizing the need for practical steps toward God, not just intellectual assent. While you don’t want to turn guidelines into laws, these may be helpful. One caveat and something I wish he had included in his list — all these need to originate in prayer so we find Christ himself as the source of our pursuit. Without that, it’s just a religion of human effort. Here are Gary’s seven:
1. Pious readings. Find the writers in history that speak to you and have the power to change your heart. Try to add to the list over the years. This year I’ve been re-reading Augustine and Richard Sibbes, mostly because they speak in a way that resonates with me. You’ll want to find the writers that resonate with you.
2. Imitate living examples. The Lord has put certain people in your life to encourage you and give you a vision of what it means to follow Christ. Sometimes it’s just pride that keeps us from acknowledging who they are and imitating them (in the way Paul urged his people to imitate him as he imitated Christ).
3. Cultivate virtues. I have a handful of virtues in which I know I need to grow. I try to be more intentional in putting these into practice. I’ve been stung by Pr 27:5 “Better is open rebuke than hidden love.” I simply need to love more openly, more expressively.
4. Use discomfort. As Sibbes says, “After conversion we need bruising, that men may know they are reeds and not oaks. Even reeds need bruising, by reason of pride in our nature, to let us see that we live by mercy.” Recognize hardship has not come into your life that you may run from it, but that you might be trained by it.
5. Practice holiness. This is a focus on bodily practices such as attending worship, reading, praying, singing, fasting and so on. This is about recognizing God has made us embodied souls, so what we do with our bodies plays a role in shaping us. Pursue holy practices.
6. Early rising. I would probably have included this in #5. I think he’s onto something with this — and for me it’s related to intentionality (and I’m bad at it). The idea here is to get after it. Don’t let the day just come to you. Don’t let your email tell you what to do. Be intentional in getting up and getting after God.
7. Living a life of reflection. Some of you, who already live too much in your own heads, will have to be careful with this one. This might be better understood in the practices of the English writer William Law or Tim Keller, both of whom had/have a habit of taking time in the evening to review the day, asking which things were well done and which done poorly. Don’t let the enemy accuse you in it, but let Christ instruct you in his mercy.